Real Stories

“Sometimes a power outage can mean family fun -- board games by flashlight. But after one evening, when the kids want TV and you don’t have Internet and your cell phones need charging, it’s not so much fun. And when you’re huddled around a propane heater – one that’s supposedly safe indoors – it’s definitely not fun at all. You walk into a dark bedroom and out of habit flip on the light switch and … nothing. That kind of sums it up. ...

Like many folks, John Donaldson was on the fence about buying backup power for his home. After all, a backup generator is a significant investment, and he had lived in his house for years, with the longest power outage lasting just five hours. Until October 29, 2011.

There seems to be a “buy-twice” pattern for many consumers when it comes to buying a generator for home or business standby power. In the home, it’s often a portable generator first, then a robust standby generator with automatic transfer and no need for re-fueling. In a business, it’s typically a small generator first, and later, as power needs grow, a powerhouse that can handle the full load, that exercises itself, and that keeps on humming for ...

On June 29, 2012, a derecho storm raced from northern Indiana to the southern Mid-Atlantic coast in just 12 hours, leaving a 700-mile trail of destruction and plunging an estimated five million people into darkness. Among them was Patrick Wingfield, who lives 20 miles outside Sistersville, West Virginia, a little piece of Americana on the Ohio River. Patrick shared his experience.

What’s a derecho? It’s something akin to a tornado. The names of both come from the Spanish: a massive thunderstorm complex with destructive straight (“derecho”) winds is the counterpoint to a twisting tornado (“tornar”).

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Share your stories of extreme weather, power outages and utility breakdowns. You can add images and link to a YouTube video, too.

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